Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Off Non-Pokering for a Couple of Days

I expected a bad call some time during the day today and received it; my parents had had to put their dog, Breaker, to sleep today. He wasn't that old of a dog but had always had weight problems, and the cancer on his left rear leg grew aggressively and went deep into the poor guy's muscle. My sister and I had purchased Breaker for my parents several years back, after they'd been yearning for another dog after their previous dog, Bingo, passed after a long, full life.

I'd had to help my mother put Bingo down myself at the end, a very tough day and a drive of its own I'll never forget. I couldn't be there this time around with Breaker, though I was up there on the weekend to say a final sad, brief goodbye. One look and I pretty much knew that the dog had no chance, and he had other health issues as well. His quality of life was slipping away, and some things, I guess, are just meant to be.

I spent some time over the weekend with old friends, too, in a once-a-year thing that just fell this time around on the same weekend. But my mood was off a bit this year, for a whole lot of reasons.

Being on the road put a damper on my personal blogging stuff, too. I was able to keep up with almost all of my contractual obligations while up in northern Wisconsin, but my heart wasn't in it. And playing poker? Pfft that for a few days while other things have precedence. It's been twelve days since the last time I actually played a hand of poker, just from being too busy. Yesterday and today I've been playing catch-up on a few other things, and in the morning I go to the oral surgeon myself. I've never been under general anasthesia in my life and I'm not looking forward to it.

Recent events have demonstrated to me that getting out the true and full stories of the AP and UB cheating scandals is going to entail significant legal effort, in addition to all the legwork of the past several years. Such is the nature of the beast. While I've resisted doing so for years, it's finally time to ask: Do you have some spare change to contribute to the cause? I'm going to be needing to mount both offensive and defensive legal efforts in the months ahead, and any contributions to cover these expenses are gratefully appreciated.

Who am I? A veteran writer/editor with decades of published writing credits, and at one time the Editor-in-Chief of PokerNews.com (though these days, "Tony G" is a dirty word to me). Currently continuing work on a book on the AP and UB scandals, to be published by Dimat Publishing in late 2012 or early 2013.